The Bottle Episode, Reopened
by Write-To-You
Summary: An elaborate fixit for Episode 10 of Supergirl, on the Brainia front, of course. The real question is: if you have become someone your entire life, inhibited or not... isn't that who you are?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Sighhh... you all know me so well. Yes, 5x10 upset me, very much. Thought tbh- it more made me frustrated than upset... they've already using this Brainy having a ****_something_**** and breaking up with Nia once this season, and a few times last season.**

**My biggest struggle, at the moment, is that he chose to taking off the Personality Inhibitors. He chose to break up with Nia. He's not ****_Brainy_****, anymore, you know? He even talks different. With the way that he is right now, I wouldn't even want him to be with Nia, because it's not ****_him_****.**

**So are we ever going to get the "real" Brainy back? That's my question. Andddd so I'm writing a fix-it that's a little more involved than normal to kinda sort things out.**

They had been _healing_.

They had been cut, but it had scabbed, and then someone had come and scratched that scab right off. And now Nia was bleeding again and she wasn't sure when she'd stop.

"I just don't get it, Kara," she said, blowing her nose with the eight tissue and then tossing it onto Kara's coffee table. "Sure, I thought he might be _different_ when he took of his inhibitors but he's not- he's not even-"

She broke down in sobs again and Kara reached out to rub her arm. "I know," she murmured comfortingly. Nia had come to her in tears a couple dozen minutes ago and laid out the whole story between sobs and tissues, but Kara was still at a loss.

"And the worst part is he- he said that _this_ is him; that he's actually himself now," Nia went on. "The Brainy that I- that I fell it love with... he's _gone_, and it would just be so- so _selfish_ to ask for him back. Who am I to say who he actually is? I know what version of him I want but I said I'd love him no matter what." She rubbed at her face. "What if I- what if I promised to love someone that I- I _can't_?"

She reached up and burrowed her fingers into her hair, tugging so hard that her face creased in pain. Kara grabbed her hands and pulled them away, bundling her into a bone-crushing hug. Nia appreciated the pressure, even if it made it that much harder to breath, and buried her tear-soaked face into Kara's shoulder.

"Look," Kara said after a moment. "How I see it is like this: Who you are is who you have spent your life becoming. Your memories, your experiences, your emotions and your opinions; _that_ is who you are. There may be people that you want to become, or even that you could become, but that doesn't change who you_ are_. Brainy has lived his entire life with these inhibitors on. Whether or not he'd be different without them is besides the point- the Brainy he was with them on is who he _is_, and I still believe that we can get him back."

Nia didn't look convinced. She reached for another tissue, swiping listlessly at her face before resting her head back against Kara's shoulder. "I don't know if I can't do this, Kara," she whispered.

"Yes, you can," Kara replied, rubbing her arm again. "You are one of the toughest people I know, Nia. And you're not alone. Anything you need- I will be there for you. Alex, and J'onn, and James and Kelly, too."

"But not Brainy," Nia murmured, her eyes welling again but nothing spilling over. She looked down at her hands, expression glazed.

"No," Kara admitted. "Not right now."

"What if he doesn't_ want_ to go back to normal, Kara?" Nia asked softly. "What if he wants to stay how he is? We can't stop him from being who he wants to be just because we miss his old self."

Kara opened her mouth, and then shut it again, because Nia was right.

And she really didn't know what to say to that.

**linbreaker**

"Brainy!" Kara yelled across the DEO, her face contorted into something that was more of a glare than anything else. It was an expression that would put fear into the hearts of most people, but Brainy looked completely calm as he glanced up and caught sight of her.

"Good afternoon, Kara," Brainy replied. "Or should I say, Supergirl."

"Why did you break up with Nia?" Kara demanded, wasting no time on pleasantries.

"Ah." Brainy tilted his chin. "I see that she has filled you in on my... terminating of our relationship. Please assure her that it was nothing she did, nor that there was anything she could have done to change my mind."

Kara gaped at him. "How could you go from saying you weren't letting yourself be... _yourself_ because you were afraid Nia wouldn't care for you anymore to- to _this_?" she asked him, almost disgusted. "If she didn't do anything, then _why_? Why did you break up with her?"

"Being with her was infringing on my ability to complete a certain task," Brainy replied carefully.

Kara remembered the last time he and Nia had had a falling out. It had only lasted three days until Brainy was virtually a mess and had made up with his girlfriend. Now, he looked like he honestly couldn't have cared less.

"A certain task?" she asked incredulously. "What _task_? And since when does Nia ever hinder your ability to get things done? The most I've ever seen her distract you is when you _weren't_ together."

Brainy looked down and fiddled with his fingers. "If things could have been different, Kara, I promise you I would not have broken up with Nia," he said calmly. "Maybe someday I will attempt to return to our past relationship-"

"_No_," Kara exploded, grabbing his shoulder and giving him a rough shake. "No, that's not how it works. You can't just walk out on her and _break her heart_, and then think that maybe she'll take you back someday. No, Brainy, you fight for her, you make it work with her, or you _lose her_. You got that?"

For the first time, Brainy looked startled. "Understood," he said, breaking away from her grip and turning back to his work. "It is... a pity. I had rather enjoy my spot so close to Nia Nal's heart."

"Then get out of here, go see her, and apologize! Explain!" Kara begged. She was so confused as to what Brainy's motives and intentions were right now, and she just wanted him to see _sense_, for goodness sakes. "It's not too late, _yet_. Yeah, you guys are going to have to work through some things again, but it's _not too late_. If you want to be with Nia you're going to have to do something about it _now_. Got it?"

"As I told you before," Brainy answered, his voice soft. "I was told that my relationship with her would infringe on a certain task that I need to accomplish."

Kara paused, frowning suspiciously. "You were told? Told by _who_?"

"I-" Brainy froze, his mouth half open. "By... no one. Myself. I was... told. By myself."

"Right," Kara replied skeptically. She took a steadying breath, trying not to get too frustrated with him, and laid a much more gentle hand on his shoulder. "Other people can't tell you what you need in order to do things, Brainy. Only you can know that."

"But _I_ told myself," Brainy repeated. "The female Brainiac 5 told me that I would need to push everyone I care about away in order to accomplish my goal."

Kara raised an eyebrow, interested in this new information. "Okay, so yes, she's your _doppelgänger,_ sure. But she's not _you_. Do you know how different some doppelgängers can be from you? I mean, would you think it was smart for me to take advice from a doppel of mine I met a few years ago who was evil, just because _technically_ she was me?"

"No," Brainy replied hesitantly. "But Director Dox wasn't evil."

"She also wasn't you," Kara reminded him. She grabbed a nearby swivel chair and sat down facing her friend. "Brainy, let me ask you something: if Director Dox hadn't told you that you needed to push everyone you cared about away, including Nia... would you have broken up with her?"

"Of course not," Brainy replied immediately. His facade (because it was, Kara was beginning to realize, a facade) crumbled a little. "Do not tell her that, please, Kara. It is easier for both of us if she doesn't know my reasoning for letting her go."

Kara opened her mouth, unsure if that was something she could promise, but Brainy looked at her imploringly. "Fine," she said. "_For now_. But I swear Brainy- if Nia is at my apartment in a mess of tears for more than a week, I'm going to tell her. If she can move on from this... great, awesome, you were right about it being easier. But if she can't..."

"Fine," Brainy accepted. "I understand."

And so time passed. Kara didn't talk to Nia about her conversation with Brainy, and was forced to watch as her friend put up a mask for the rest of the world. She kept up with her work at CatCo. She continued being Dreamer, but only to patrol the streets on her own. She stayed at Kara's apartment, unable to go home and face the sheer amount of _memories_ it would bring crashing on her.

And then the last thing that anyone expected happened.

Brainy got kidnapped.

**Author's Note: Ending on the cliffieeeee did y'all see that coming no I bet you did not muahahahha :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Okay so I just gotta share: this specific plot came to me as I was chatting with God about plot ideas for Supergirl (hey, we chat, okay? You don't just gotta pray when you're talking with God. I fill him in on shipping and nail polish and also ask him to save people).**

**I was like, "Honestly, my dream episode for Brainia would have been a kidnapping. But obviously that's not going to happen in the way I'd like anymore because they're not together."**

**And He was like, ****_Significant look_****.**

**And I was like, "DUDE! What if..." and proceeded to lay out the whole plot for this fixit.**

**But at the time, I was thinking of doing a separate story.**

**And then I was like why am I so dumb I have no plans for this fanfiction I'll just do it here.**

**Okay time to end this A.N lets get goinggggg.**

"You've got to be kidding me," Nia said as she sat, in full Dreamer costume, around the meeting table with Alex and Kara.

"I know it's a lot to ask," Alex said, putting a hand on her arm. "And seriously- we wouldn't ask if we had _any_ other options. But you are our best bet at figuring out where Brainy is. I hate to say it because... I know what he did to you. But you guys have -or _had, _at the very least- a connection."

"We're all a little upset with Brainy right now," Kara added. "But we can't just let him... I dunno. Stay kidnapped."

"No, I know, I know," Nia said, waving her hands to stop their convincing. "Trust me- as angry as I am with him I don't want any harm coming to him either! I've just... I've gotten really good at _not_ thinking about him this past week. I don't even know if I'll be able to do this."

"I have full faith," Alex replied with another brisk pat on her arm.

Kara bit her lip, considering. "Nia... if it gives you any incentive... Brainy said that he didn't actually want to break up with you, and only did because his female doppel said that he'd need to push everyone he loved away to accomplish this... task thing he was working on."

Nia froze in her chair and looked up at Kara. "Are you telling me," she said in a slow, measured tone. "That Brainy gave _you_ details about _our_ break up and _you didn't tell me_?"

Kara flinched back a little, looking over at Alex nervously. "Um... he didn't want me to tell you. He thought it would be easier."

"I have been _dying_ for a _week_, _beating myself up_ over what I could have _possibly_ done to make him break up with me," Nia said, getting to her feet with a look of pure fury on her face. "And now you're saying that this is all because his _stupid doppelgänger_ told him he'd have to? I could have _confronted him_, Kara! I could have made him see sense! But you kept it from me and lied to my face every single day when I went to your apartment looking for comfort and security."

"I'm sorry," Kara breathed, her eyes wide. "I never meant to hurt you anymore than you already were, Nia."

"Just go," Nia said, looking over at Alex to let her know that she was included in that dismissal, too. "If I'm going to find Brainy I need to be alone."

The Danvers sisters exchanged a quick glance that kind of made Nia want to punch them, then slowly nodded and backed out of the room. Once the door was shut, Nia took out her frustration by shoving the swivel chair she'd been in as hard as she could into the table. Then she stomped over to the glass wall panels separating the room she was in currently from the rest of the DEO, and yanked the shades down.

Then Nia sat back down in her chair, put her head on her arms, and let out a loud, angry sob. Her boyfriend -_ex boyfriend_\- was an idiot. A complete idiot.

But when he had broken up with her, no matter what idiotic delusions he'd been under... he had been being _self sacrificing_.

She hated him for it. Absolutely, positively loved him for it. _Hated._ Not loved. Not...

Nia let out another sob and yanked her fingers through her hair. She straightened her spine, resettling back in the chair, and squeezed her eyes shut. The sooner she found Brainy, the sooner she could rescue him, and the sooner she could confront him about this whole 'pushing people away to get an unknown something done' thing.

**linebreaker**

"Did I really screw up?" Kara asked as she paced up and down the length of the DEO's balcony. "By not telling her what Brainy asked me not to tell her?"

Alex opened her mouth and hesitated. She shook her head a little. "I honestly don't have an answer for that, Kara. Sure, your loyalty was to Brainy because he asked you not to say anything. But your loyalty was _also_ to Nia -or it should have been- because she was looking to you to help her through this."

"But is telling her that Brainy didn't really want to break up with her actually helping her any?" Kara asked, shaking her head. "Think about it, Alex. When I lost Mon-El, knowing that he hadn't wanted to leave made things even_ harder_ than they already were. Maybe thinking that Brainy didn't want her would have made it easier for Nia to get through this. Anger is so much easier than sadness."

"But self doubt is worse than both of those," Alex countered. "Kara, you and Mon-El didn't really break up. He had to leave to save his life. Brainy left Nia and kept on like normal, leaving her to pick up the pieces and wonder where she'd gone wrong. At least when Maggie and I split, we knew why. It was just out of the blue for Nia, and she had no idea of any reasoning until you decided to share it with her today."

"So I _did_ screw up," Kara moaned, sliding down to sit against the banister and wrap her legs in her arms. "I never meant to hurt her, Alex, I really didn't!"

"Of course you didn't," Alex replied, sitting next to her and nudging her with an elbow. "You never _mean_ to hurt anyone. Nia knows that, deep down, and eventually she's going to know it not-so-deep-down, too. Okay? It'll all sort out. She just needs a little space right now."

"This feels like Lena all over again," Kara whispered, resting her chin on her forearms and staring at a spot deeper into the DEO without really seeing it. "She gets betrayed by Lex and then me. Nia gets let down by Brainy and then me. Why do I keep screwing up with the people I really care about?"

"It's all out of love," Alex murmured, nudging her again. "It's all out of a place of wanting them to be as okay as possible and thinking that what you're doing is making that the case. It's all to protect them."

Kara swallowed, shifting her face to rest on her cheek so she could look at Alex. "Well, maybe it's time for me to stop seeing my friends as people who need my protection."

Alex, who honestly didn't have an answer, shrugged. "Maybe it is."

**linebreaker**

Alex was at least right on one point, Nia thought. She and Brainy were connected. It was why he'd been able to hear her cry when his evil doppel had attacked her even though they hadn't been in the same building. Sure, they didn't have telepathy, but when one of them was experiencing a strong emotion, the other could feel it.

Nia spent a moment wondering on whether, if she hadn't been so drowned in her own misery and Brainy's rejection, she would have felt some grief from him, too. It was hard to know for sure.

Nia sat up very straight in her chair and tapped into the Nalturian dreamscape. Due to training and coaching from Brainy, it was almost ridiculously easy for her to do so now, and she soon found herself bobbing along in the swirling mists of her subconscious.

She reached out. _Brainy?_

The hazy purple mist surrounding her shivered a little, and Nia's disembodied spirit would have frowned if it could have. She could admit that she wasn't trying all that hard, and the mist wasn't about to let her have this one easy.

Nia tried again, attempting to imagine Brainy while still detaching herself entirely from feeling anything. _Brainy?_

Still nothing, though she thought the mist might have thinned a little.

It was no use. Nia couldn't half do this; she had to actually feel something. She and Brainy were connected through emotions, and her emotions would (hopefully) lead her to him.

So, Nia brought to mind the feeling she got when Brainy smiled at her from over his condensating glass at the alien bar when they went out for drinks. She imagined the way the hairs raised on the back of her arms when he accidentally grazed his fingers against some part of her skin. And then, with a budding ache in her chest that she had managed to lock up in some hidden drawer until that moment, she felt the tears on her cheeks when Brainy turned and walked out of her apartment without so much of an explanation as to why they had to end.

It was like a hurricane had hit the mist. The particles of subconscious were whisked out of the way as Nia reached out, one more time: _Brainy?_

There he was.

Nia pulled herself out of the dreamscape and sat back in her chair. She left the tears on her cheeks, gazing blankly at the table in front of her. She had two options: go and find Alex and Kara and tell them where Brainy was, which would lead to Kara rushing to the rescue, bringing him back, and everything getting back to how it had been for the past week.

Or...

Nia could walk out of the DEO and find Brainy herself. Then, while he was still in captivity and could not _possibly_ find a way to escape the conversation, she would confront him about his real reason for breaking up with her and see if they couldn't figure out a way to meet in the middle.

And if they couldn't? Well... Nia was going to have to get on with life, then. As much as she loved Brainy (which was a whole lot more than basically anything she had ever loved in her entire life, not including her family and maybe cronuts), she wasn't going to fight for a relationship if she wouldn't be met halfway.

Nia got to her feet. She liked this second plan considerably more than having to talk to Kara after finding out what she'd hidden from her all this time.

'Well, Brainy,' Nia mused as she crept out of her side room and hurried toward the exit of the DEO. 'Guess I'm coming to rescue you whether you like it or not.'

**linebreaker**

Brainy paced up and down the length of his containment area. He could not _believe_ that he had gotten himself into this situation. And now he had no way to get out, no way to contact his friends, and no way to warn them _not to come_.

There was the sound of footsteps and Brainy stopped walking. His cage may have seemed clear, but it was completely reflective glass on his side. For all he knew, there was an entire crowd of admittedly silent people standing and just watching him.

Another footstep, and then a pause. "Okay, I know you broke up with me but not even a _reaction_?" a voice said, and before Brainy could stop himself he was stumbling towards the glass, desperate to see out.

"Nia," he breathed. "Please, _please_ tell me you're _not_ Nia."

"Ouch," the voice said again, and that was definitely Nia. "I'm not even sure what to say to that."

Brainy let out a groan, sinking to the ground. "You _must_ get out of here," he ordered, wishing he knew where she was standing so he could direct his gaze accordingly. "You can't get me out."

"I'm over here," Nia said slowly, her voice coming from a completely different direction than before. Brainy turned around, now on his knees. When Nia spoke again, her tone was considerably more concerned. "Did someone hurt your eyes? Why can't you see?"

"Reflective glass," Brainy explained. "You can see me but I can't see you."

"Oh," Nia replied. "Hang on a sec; I'm going to figure out how to get you out of here. There's this little control box and I _think_ if I can short circuit it, I can-"

Brainy was too slow to figure out what she was talking about, but the moment the pieces clicked he flew to his feet. "Nia, wait-!"

There was the sound of panels sliding.

Then Nia screamed.

**Author's Note: HAAA I'm terrible I'm so sorry I suckkkk but I wanna leave all of these on cliffies muahahaha :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I didn't even consider the fact that Kara and Nia not being on good terms totally gave Nia a motive to go in and get Brainy alone, but that worked out rather nicely.**

**Hey! Angst ****_does_**** have a purpose!**

One moment, Nia had been gloriously saving her ex-boyfriend from his kidnapping. The next, she was fiddling with what she thought were Brainy's cell controls and then the floor was opening up beneath her and she was falling through open space.

Nia lashed out with her hands, sending a spiral of dream energy towards the opening above her. It must have caught on to something, because her fall was abruptly stopped. Nia swung for a second, the tendrils of dream energy making her hands buzz, and then looked down.

It was completely dark beneath her. There was no seeing the bottom, and no way to sent any light down unless she let go of her dream ropes and sent energy below her, instead of above.

And considering that would mean she would most likely fall to her death, she wasn't about to do that anytime soon.

Gritting her teeth, Nia considered her options. She was pretty sure that there was a way she could gradually shorten her dream energy ropes without actually moving her hands, but she had never _tried_, and she didn't want to accidentally shorten the wrong part and lose whatever grip she had in the room above her.

So, a climb up the dark shaft it was. Nia tightened her grip on her dream ropes and planted her feet on the wall like she did when she had rock-climbed in college. It had been awhile, but it was kind of hard to forget the fairly simple hand-over-hand, foot-above-foot movement that she needed to inch her way up the wall.

It took longer than she might have liked, and Nia was worried that with every movement the dream rope would let go of what it had caught on, but finally she was pulling herself over the lip of the floor with trembling arms.

She caught sight of Brainy inside his cage just as a wave of grief from him hit her. He was rocking back and forth, head buried in his arms, and she remember that he couldn't see her.

Most likely? He thought she was dead.

"Brainy," Nia said quietly as she got to her feet, letting her dream ropes dissipate. She was more drained than she'd like to admit after her climb and using her powers so much, but there was still no way she was walking out of the building without the guy she somehow still loved.

Brainy's head jerked up and he fumbled forward on his knees, pressing his hands and forehead to the glass. "Nia?" he breathed. "Nia?!"

"I'm okay," Nia replied gently, kneeling in front of him and putting her hands to the glass in the same places as his were. "I caught myself before I fell all the way."

"I tried to warn you," Brainy said, shaking his head. "Lex Luthor knew I would be rescued and he set up precautions to make sure that I was not. I'm bait, Nia. You need to leave."

"Wait." Nia's ears had narrowed in on two words, and two words only. "_Lex Luthor_?"

"Indeed," a voice from behind her spoke up, and Nia let out a squeak of surprise, spinning around. In the entryway she had come in by, thinking she had been so clever to find where Brainy was being held captive, stood none other than Lex Luthor.

He raised his hand. "Surprise."

And just as Nia registered the squarish, clunky-looking gun he was holding, he pulled the trigger.

**linebreaker**

It was now Alex's turn to pace, and she did so with reckless abandon for anyone who might be in her way. Already she had almost hit two DEO agents with a shoulder and had nearly knocked over a chair. "I cannot _believe_ she went to get him alone," she seethed.

Kara shook her head. "This is all my fault," she said. "If we hadn't been on bad terms she would have come and told us where Brainy was before taking off."

"How could she go in there without _any_ backup?!" Alex cried, steamrolling on. "She _knows_ how dangerous these kinds of things are. I mean, seriously- if someone could get the advantage of _Brainy_, then they'd be able to get the advantage on anyone!"

Kara let out a mournful groan, putting her head down on the table. "What're we going to _do_, Alex?" she asked desperately. "They're probably _both_ captured and in trouble by now. I've already tried using my super-hearing _and_ my x-ray vision, and neither of them have worked, which means that whoever captured them knows how to counter my abilities."

"Or else they're just dead, and that's why you can't find them," Alex said, coming to a stop and looking at Kara.

Kara's face filled with fear. "Alex.." she whispered. "Don't say that. _Please_ don't say that. They're okay. They have to be."

"The only reassurance I have," Alex said, finally taking a seat next to her sister, "is that they're together. On bad terms, maybe. But they are pretty powerful together, and if they can figure their issues out long enough to actually combine forces... they might just have a chance to save themselves."

Kara nodded seriously. "In the meantime," she said. "I'm going to make another sweep of the city. You start figuring out who would be most likely to manage to kidnap both of them _and_ account for my powers. Maybe that'll help us figure out where they could be."

"Yes ma'am," Alex replied with a faint smile. "I'll get right to that."

**linebreaker **

"Nia."

There was a voice above her, fuzzy and distant and Nia struggled to open her eyes. Someone was shaking her, and she wanted to tell them to stop because she was _tired_.

The thought of her, Dreamer, being tired, made her giggle. She tried to tell whoever was there what she was laughing about but the words came out jumbled. There was another shake on her shoulder, a light tapping on her cheek. Her name was repeated.

Finally, Nia managed to open her eyes. Brainy's blurry face swam into view and she blinked muggily. "Brainy?"

"_Nia_," Brainy answered, letting out a whoosh of air that ruffled her hair. "I'm glad to see you awake."

Nia sat up slowly, looking around her in confusion. "Where... what... Lex Luthor."

Brainy nodded. "Indeed," he replied, sitting back and giving her some space. "I believe that... I have some explaining to do."

And then suddenly Nia remembered. She remembered that he had come into her apartment and broken up with her for no good reason last week. She remembered that he had been pretty much ignoring her like they had never even been friends, much less in love, since then.

And she remembered that Kara had said Brainy hadn't actually _wanted_ to let her go; that he'd done it so that he could accomplish some sort of goal.

Nia eyed Brainy from the corner of her eye. "Yeah," she said shortly. She had been able to put aside their falling out just based off the pure relief she'd had when she had found him still alive. But now that _she_ had been captured, too? Honestly, Nia was kind of pissed.

Brainy turned to her, gaze serious. "I attempted to strike up a partnership with Lex Luthor in order to learn about and destroy Leviathan."

"You _what_?!" Nia cried, her jaw falling open. "Brainy, what the _heck_?! Lex Luthor is basically our worst enemy. Besides that, you know how manipulative he is! How stupid could you possibly be to think that he would fairly "partner" with you?!"

"Quite stupid, apparently," Brainy said, his lips pinching. "Lex Luthor betrayed me at the first _possible_ opportunity and proceeded to use me as bait to trap anyone who would come after me. I thought his plans may have been hampered because I was pushing all of you away and you may not come after me, but apparently even attempting to fully distance myself couldn't keep you all safe."

"You're such an idiot," Nia breathed, her head tipping backward to thunk against the wall. She could see their reflection in the mirrored glass in front of her, and so she could also see the way Brainy's face shut down at her words. Feeling probably less guilty than she should have, Nia nudged him. "Did you seriously think that we wouldn't come save you just because you've been being a complete jerk?"

He gave her an unamused look. "I don't think you realize how serious this situation is, Nia Nal."

"What are you talking about?" Nia replied sarcastically. "I just happened to be kidnapped along with my ex-boyfriend who has acted for a week like I don't even exist and, if I do, that he could not _actually_ care less."

She got up again, realizing she was fluctuating moods pretty drastically but not really caring. Brainy didn't reply to her comment, just pushed himself a little further into the wall, and so Nia walked over and tried to see if she could peer past the mirrored glass.

When the silence got to be too much (and Nia's temper flare calmed a little), she turned back around and slid down the wall opposite Brainy. "Kara told me you only broke up with me because of this thing you had to do. Guessing it was work with Lex Luthor."

"I requested that she _not_ tell you that," Brainy replied softly, neither confirming nor denying Nia's theory. He didn't have to; it was the only one that made sense.

"Don't worry- I already got mad at her for it," Nia said.

Brainy gave her a quizzical look. "You were angry at her for telling you something I had wished that you didn't know?" he asked, confused.

Nia let out an incredulous laugh. "You are _so_ self-centered," she muttered, and Brainy's gaze fell to the ground. "No dumbo, I got mad at her because she _didn't_ tell me. And I'm mad at you because you didn't tell me, too. Why did you listen to your doppelgänger?"

"There were... a few reasons," Brainy explained. "For starters, she had attempted to stop Leviathan and had lost her wife because of it. Also... I knew that she was right. The only way to work with Lex Luthor, which is the only way to defeat Leviathan, was to show him that I had no cares for anyone in my life anymore. He would never trust that I would betray Supergirl if I was still included in the Superfriends."

"He didn't trust you now," Nia reminded him.

"That is true." Brainy let out a deep sigh, shifting uncomfortably on the floor. "And now, not only have I failed in my mission to stop Leviathan and endangered all of the Superfriends in the process, but I have ruined the best thing I've ever had." His eyes zoomed to land on her face, clearing up any possible doubts on his implication, and Nia let her own gaze fall. "For that... I am truly, _deeply_, sorry."

"I'm sure you are," Nia whispered. She wished that she could stay angry and impassioned, and that she could continue to belittle Brainy for the horrible way he had treated her, but, in truth?

She had already forgiven him.

**Author's Note: That's not the end btw (though I suppose that it could be). Figured that'd be a good place to end the chapter, though. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Welllll diddly diddly dee (huh?) I had no plans at all for this story beyond Chapter 3 :P**

In Lex Luthor's cell, somewhere in National City, silence reigned.

Finally, Nia couldn't stand it anymore. She was bored, she was getting jumpy, and her butt was honestly numb from sitting on the ridiculously hard stone floor.

"Brainy?" she said, making him flinch a little and glance up sharply. He gave her a wary look, and it hurt her that he thought she was going to keep verbally attacking him. She let out a sigh. "Do you have a plan to get out of here?"

"I have created and discarded quite a few," Brainy said. Somehow, even after what must have been multiple hours, his posture hadn't slumped and he hadn't shifted positions even once. "I am trying to... avoid possibilities that force you to work with me, but I'm afraid that those are the only ones left to try."

Nia let out another sigh, her head falling back to the mirrored wall behind her. "I'm fine with working with you, Brainy," she said flatly. "I think I've yelled at you and insulted you enough for today."

When she peeked through her eyelids, she saw a faint smirk quirking Brainy's lips. But then his face fell. "I deserve all of it," he told her seriously. "That and more."

"So, what's your plan?" Nia asked instead of replying. She didn't want to _disagree_ with Brainy's self-deprecation, exactly, but she always hated indulging him in it even when it stemmed from a kernel of truth.

"You're going to need to astro-project," Brainy explained. "I know that is something that we were still working on, but I believe that you can do it."

Nia nodded, unsure of how this plan included him so far.

"Astro-projections have no bodily form," Brainy went on. "So you will be able to get through the walls of our prison. Then, you can find the technology creating our cage. Once you've done so, return to your body and I will take you through the next step."

"Got it," Nia agreed, moving to sit cross legged. She shut her eyes, then paused and opened one back up, a thought occurring to her. "Why don't I just astro-project and go tell Kara and Alex where we are? I got here; I could lead them to this spot."

She had thought it was a good idea, and a lot simpler than the multi-step plot Brainy was planning, but he shook his head. "The possibility occurred to me," he admitted. "But there is an 87% likelihood that, if Agent Danvers and Kara came to our rescue, Lex would have accounted for that and they would get caught as well. I doubt that he anticipated us working together and using astro-projection and mind-melding to get out of here."

Nia frowned. "Mind-melding? You want to bridge minds?"

Brainy nodded. "Astro-project first and see where we stand, then we shall proceed."

If Nia had wanted to, she could have played the 'you did me wrong and now you have to agree with everything I ask so tell me your full plan' card, but she still trusted Brainy enough to just nod and shut her eyes again.

Astro-projection still wasn't quite as easy for her as heading into the dreamscape. Nia took a few deep breaths and concentrated on what she imagined was her spirit, feeling her powers hum in her blood and letting that hum push herself out of her physical form.

Once she'd been freed, Nia took a breath and looked around. Her bodily self was still upright and crosslegged, sitting completely still. Brainy was watching her closely, his eyes trained on her face. Spirit-Nia turned around in the air and passed through the wall of her cell, toward the space outside. The trap she had fallen into earlier that day was still open, and she was somewhat tempted to go explore how deep the hole went.

But she didn't have time for that. Instead, Nia glanced around her cage. Very close to the ceiling, there was a small, almost invisible panel. The switch-box Nia had gone for earlier was a lot more obvious, which was probably the point of the trap. But this panel could actually have some potential.

Nia floated towards it. She reached out a hand and pressed on the segment of wall, but her fingers vanished straight into it. Nia let out a breath of frustration. Astro-projection was one thing. But astro-projection while creating a physical force was something entirely different. Concentrating as hard as possible, Nia brought to mind every feeling that came along with having a tangible hand. She thought of finger-cramps when she wrote too much, of burns she had gotten from mugs of tea and coffee, of zaps from electric shocks and gentler tingles from when she and Brainy brushed hands.

Nia pressed the panel again, and this time, it opened. There were a series of buttons and a keypad which Nia supposed had some sort of passcode attached to it.

She felt the lure of her physical body starting to pull her back. She was getting tired, and honestly? With this new discovery, Nia wasn't sure how well Brainy's plan was going to work.

All at once, Nia's spirit-self was sent hurtling back through the walls of her cell and into her body. She jolted forward with a gasp, choking on air and coughing for a few seconds as her arms trembled to hold her up. Coming out of an astro-projection was the _worst_. Even just a few minutes of not being in your body showed you how much you actually physically felt when you went back in.

"Nia?" Brainy asked tentatively, and she realized he had crossed the room and was kneeling in front of her. His hand was hovering half in the air, and Nia felt a surge of frustration that he didn't just _touch her_, already.

But she got it. He probably didn't want to push any boundaries. Once again, her ex-boyfriend was being annoying because he was trying to do things right.

"I'm fine," Nia panted, straightening up.

"What did you see?" Brainy asked.

"There was a panel in the wall..." Nia murmured, trying to remember everything possible. "Right up near the ceiling. I managed to bring some solidity to my hand and opened it up, but there's a keypad. Even if we _do_ merge minds, you won't be able to connect to the tech enough to figure out the passcode and unlock our cage."

Brainy sat back and let out a long breath. His eyes squinted slightly before he slowly looked toward her. "No..." he agreed. "But if you were to astro-project _through_ me, I would be able to use your powers, get to the technology, and unlock our enclosure."

"Astro-project _though_ you?" Nia repeated incredulously. "Brainy, I've never done something remotely like that before."

"And there is a 72.84% chance that you will not be able to," Brainy admitted. "The odds are not in your favor, but yet... it is our only shot if we do not wish to endanger our friends. And Nia... I believe in you."

Maybe that shouldn't have meant a lot, but it did. Nia let out a sigh and gave in. "It doesn't hurt to try," she said. "So, how would I go about this?"

**linebreaker**

"I'm sorry," J'onn apologized with a deep sigh, opening up his eyes to see the two Danvers sisters in front of him, eagerly awaiting his results. "I can't find them. There must be some sort of psychic inhibitor."

Alex sat down heavily in a chair and shook her head. They had come to J'onn as a last ditch attempt to find Brainy and Nia, their last hope before Kara started to search every inch of the city on foot.

That was, of course, assuming that Brainy and Nia were even _in_ the city. If not... well, Alex wasn't feeling very hopeful to start with. She didn't think they'd ever find them if they weren't in National City.

"It's okay, J'onn, you tried," Kara said, knowing that J'onn would start blaming himself for not being able to do more.

Due to form, J'onn shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh. "I wish I could help you two more," he confessed. "I'm just not sure what I can _do_."

"I'm going to start searching every inch of the city," Kara told him, though by the way her mouth pinched, Alex had a feeling that she wasn't very excited about the prospect. "You can help. The more people we have out there looking, the faster we find them."

"Of course," J'onn agreed immediately. He got out of his meditative kneeling pose and stretched his neck a little. The two of them headed for the door, but J'onn paused by Alex's chair and put a hand on her shoulder. "We will find them, Alex," he said certainly.

Alex forced a smile, though she was feeling less than hopeful. "Yeah," she agreed. "Of course we will."

**linebreaker**

Twenty minutes of trying to astro-project later saw Nia with her head back against the glass wall, completely drained. "You don't happen to have any water, do you?" she whispered, dizzy beyond belief.

Brainy shook his head. "You were almost there," he said encouragingly.

"I can't astro-project though you _and_ still have the concentration to give you solidity," Nia said in frustration. She shifted on the hard floor, the beginnings of a migraine starting to throb in her temples. This was the kind of display of power that one _built up to_, not tried to do all at once.

"It only needs to be for a moment," Brainy reminded her. "Just long enough that I can come in contact with the panel. Trust me, Nia... if I can get my hand on it for even a few seconds I will be able to crack the system and get us out of here. There _are_ pros to me taking off my inhibitors, I promise."

Nia's lips twitched a little and she forced herself to straighten up, taking a deep, steadying breath. "One more time," she said, giving Brainy a look that didn't invite any arguments. "And that's it. I need to make sure I'm conscious to astro-project and get Alex and Kara our location if this plan fails."

"Understood," Brainy agreed. "One more time." He hesitated and looked at her uncertainly. "It... _may_ help if we are touching."

Nia gave him a look.

"I promise you I am not just saying that because I missed having contact with you," Brainy went on hurriedly. "Physical connection helps mind-melds; I do not see why it wouldn't work the same for astro-projecting through someone else's body."

"Fine," Nia allowed. She scooted away from the wall and positioned herself in a crosslegged pose in front of Brainy. He held out his hands, and she put hers in them. Something in her heart filled up at the feeling of holding his hands again, but she pushed the emotion out of her head and concentrated.

To astro-project through someone else, Nia had found out fairly quickly, you had to push your spirit out of your body and then replace someone else's spirit with your own, therefore freeing the other persons spirit. Brainy was right: it was easier to do now that they were holding hands.

Still, the concentration factor was giving Nia some issue. As she tried to focus on sending her spirit into Brainy, all that she could get in her head was how nice it felt to hold his hands again.

Opening her eyes, Nia broke away and curled up into a ball on the floor. Brainy looked at her in some surprise. "What is it?" he asked. "Are you alright? Did you push too hard?"

Nia shook her head. "I can't do this," she whispered, looking up at him. "I can't pretend like being with you is completely normal and it's not _killing me_. You really hurt me, Brainy, and now I don't know what's going to happen next because yeah of _course_ I want you back in my life, but this is the second time you've walked away since we started dating. What's to stop you from doing it again? And again? And what's to stop you from not coming back someday? And then you- you took your inhibitors off and I was okay with that but do I even really _know_ you anymore? I mean, the first thing you did was break up with me and team up with Lex Luthor, of all people!"

Brainy blinked a few times, processing her words. Nia knew she had just thrown a lot at him, but she needed to get everything off her chest. Things weren't okay, by any stretch, and she needed him to know that.

"I am the same person I always was," Brainy said softly. "More self-assured, maybe. More in-tune with possible futures and my technological abilities. More in-tune with my emotions, too, but better at putting up a mask. I did not _want_ to break up with you, Nia; I only did it because I knew -I _thought_\- that it was necessary."

"So what if you think it's necessary again?" Nia asked. "I swear, Brainy, if you were any other guy I would have walked away from you and not looked back for a _second_, but I just can't seem to let you go."

Brainy moved forward and held out his hand again, and Nia took it almost reflexively. "I am part machine, Nia," he said. "One level of my... programming, so to speak, is to be able to effectively learn from mistakes. Clearly I was wrong to think that breaking up with you would _help_ me find Leviathan. Clearly I was wrong to assume that you would hamper my plans. I will _not_ be wrong again."

It was hard to just accept his words at face value, especially considering their history. But Nia wanted _so badly_ to believe him.

"Okay," she murmured, and Brainy's eyes went wide. "You get one more chance, Querl Dox. Break my heart again and you're never getting it back."

Brainy nodded rapidly and Nia felt like a huge weight had lifted off of her chest. She rolled forward onto her knees, getting closer to him. "Now please let me kiss you because it's been over a week and-"

Brainy cut her off by pressing his lips to hers, nearly bowling her over with the force. Her hand tangled in his hair and he wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her closer to him. They had never kissed quite like this before, with this much abandon. Maybe Brainy had been right about losing his inhibitors getting him more in-tune with his emotions.

Or maybe it was just because it had been so long since they'd kissed, and Nia really had missed him.

Nia pulled back first, breathless. "I love you," she whispered, and was suddenly thrown back to when she'd first said those words under two weeks ago. It had been to give Brainy strength, but it had also been a promise.

It looked like she was going to be able to keep it.

Brainy sniffed and cupped his face in her hands, kissing her firmly again before breaking away and pressing his forehead to hers. "I love you, too," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion.

Nia smiled. Then, with her forehead still touching Brainy's and her arms around his neck, she astro-projected through him.

**Author's Note: They made up YASSSS there was the real fixit :D **

**Sorry if this was too easy. Sorry if any of this is too easy. Y'all know I'm not good at drawing out plots hen there's ships to save XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Okay, forgot to mention this in the last few chapters, but can we just talk about how ****_incredible and incredibly heartbreaking_**** Brainia was in episode 11? Like there was some reeeeeally good content in there, even if they're not together.**

**So many people want Winn to help them get back together and honestly? I'm here for it XD**

**Oh also I'm hopeful that the whole pt. 1 pt. 2 thing of 'Back to the Future' isn't ****_just_**** a pt. 1 pt. 2 for the Toyman arc, but for Brainy or Brainia, too. Maybe things will sort out next episode...? **

**DANGIT I JUST REALIZED THAT BRAINIA ISN'T GOING TO SPEND THE VALENTINES EPISODE TOGETHER! THAT'S SO UNFAIR!**

After all of the trial and error of actually taking down the walls of their captivity, getting out of the cell room was surprisingly simple.

Nia had managed to complete one last astro-projection through Brainy and they had worked together to get his hand to solidify. He had been correct; the second he touched the panel he was able to break into the system and the walls of their prison had slid into the ground. Nia had gently brought their spirits back into their bodies, and proceeded to almost pass out.

"Come on," Brainy murmured as she lay on the ground, blinking very slowly. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her up to be flush against his side, stumbling a little as he brought them both to a standing position. Nia ducked her head against his collarbone, everything around her spinning. She wasn't sure if she had ever been more physically drained in her life, but hey.

_She had done it_.

"This feels too easy," Nia said once they had gotten out of the warehouse their cage had been held it. They stood in the parking lot, Nia breathing in deep mouthfuls of cold night air to try and clear her head.

"It... does," Brainy admitted, looking around him warily. Though Nia was feeling stronger now that they were outside, he kept his arm firmly around her waist. "After all of the trouble Lex Luthor went to to capture me, and then you... it seems as though he should have had more security. Then again... I suppose he wasn't suspecting us to be such a..."

"Power couple?" Nia finished with a playful grin.

Brainy smiled widely. "Indeed," he agreed. "Such a power couple."

They looked around them, and Nia was half-expecting the parking lot they were in to suddenly open up beneath them, or a giant metal cage to come careening in from the sky.

But nothing happened. Nia smiled happily. Lex Luthor had prepared well, but he hadn't anticipated how strong she and Brainy could be if they worked together.

"I stashed my motorcycle a little ways away from here," Nia said, starting to lead Brainy away from the warehouse where they'd been held. Part of her wanted to stick around and get the jump on Lex Luthor, but they didn't have quite enough dirt on him to do anything with him even if he _could_ successfully be caught.

Besides, why risk freedom when they had just fought so hard for it?

Remarkably, Nia's motorcycle was right where she'd left it in a back alleyway a little ways from the warehouse. As they neared the vehicle, Nia glanced over at Brainy. "I'm guessing you're going to want to drive," she said.

To her surprise, Brainy shifted uncomfortably. "Actually... I believe that it would be better if _you_ did the driving."

"Seriously?" Nia asked. She was feeling considerably stronger than before, but she had nearly just burnt herself out with hours of astro-projecting. "Why? Are you okay?"

Brainy sent her a sidelong glance, and pulled to a stop in front of Nia's bike. "I... I regret to admit that the past 24-plus hours without any food or water is beginning to... get to me."

"You haven't-" Nia broke off, her mouth falling open. "_24 hours_? Lex didn't bring you anything to eat _or_ drink?" She didn't know off the top of her head how long a human (or a Coluan) could survive without water, but she didn't imagine it was very long.

"Indeed," Brainy said. "Which is why I think it is... advisable if you drive, this time. I am perfectly fine, but I am concerned that I am not nearly focused enough to be handling a motor vehicle."

Nia nodded and put her hand on his arm. "You didn't say anything," she said quietly. "The whole time we were in there. Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was not relevant-"

"_Hey._" Nia shook her head, grabbing his other arm, too and turning him to face her. "I don't care if it's relevant or important or whether or not I'd gain anything from knowing. I want you to tell me the next time. If we're going to _be_ together, we're _in_ this together. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Brainy said with a faint grin. "Now, would you like me to beginning singing high school musical?"

Nia rolled her eyes fondly and pulled away from him, slinging her front leg over the motorcycle and preparing them to head home.

**linebreaker**

The reaction to Nia and Brainy's arrival in the DEO was borderline explosive. Everyone broke into excited cheers and conversation, and at least half a dozen agents ran off to find Director Danvers and Supergirl. Two of the medical staff dragged Brainy and Nia toward the med bay for a checkup, even though Nia insisted that they were fine and just tired.

Granted, Brainy was starting to look incredibly pale, and Nia wouldn't have been opposed to them putting him on fluids for a little while to get his hydration levels back up.

Alex and Kara, closely followed by J'onn, came hurtling into the med bay a few minutes later. "Nia!" Kara cried, and Nia leapt up from her gurney to hug her friends.

Alex hurried over to Brainy but paused beside him, eyeing him warily. Brainy licked his lips and twisted his hands uncomfortably in his lap, not meeting anyones eyes.

"Come on," Nia prompted. "If you're going to be with me there's no point in being cold to anyone else; you won't be proving anything."

The dam broke, and Brainy leapt off his gurney and hugged Alex tightly, managing to avoid tugging out his IV. She looked startled, even more so when he abruptly pulled back and starting stuttering apologies and frantically wiping at his eyes.

"Wait, so..." Kara glanced at Nia, a quizzical look on her face. "You and Brainy are...?"

"Back together," Nia reported with a grin. "I told him he gets _one more chance_ and that is _it_."

Kara let out a happy squeal and squeezed Nia in a side hug, sitting next to her on the cot. "I'm so sorry," she said quietly, low enough that only Nia heard. "I never meant to hurt you."

"Don't worry about it," Nia assured her, giving her a light pat on the knee. "It all worked out. No more hiding stuff, though, okay? That never gets any of us anywhere."

Kara nodded her agreement as Alex spoke up. "You are one lucky guy," she said to Brainy, nudging him in the shoulder. "You better be the best boyfriend in the multiverse for a pretty long time after what you put Nia through."

"I have a few ideas already," Brainy replied with a grin, glancing sideways at Nia. She looked at him, starting to imagine them backtracking to the first few weeks of their serious relationship where Brainy had smothered her with poetry and food. Brainy caught the glance and let out a sigh. "I will do things _unobsessively_, I promise."

"So what exactly happened to you two?" J'onn said, speaking up. Nia jumped a little, not having remembered that he was even there.

"Well..." she said. "Brainy got kidnapped by Lex Luthor-" There were squawks of surprise but Nia pushed on, "and I went to save him and almost died, then _didn't_, but then Lex came in with this gun thing and shot me-" More squawks, "and when I woke up I had been stuck in the cage along with Brainy. So _then_ we figured out a way to get me to astro-project through him so that he could get to the technology and lower the walls of our cell, all while mending our broken relationship."

She folded her hands in her lap and smiled pleasantly at her friends. "Questions?"

Kara gaped for a second. "You can astro-project through people?" she settled on finally. "Can you do me?"

Nia gave her an unamused look. "Sure. Except for the fact that I _never want to astro-project again, ever_."

Alex snorted with laughter and patted Brainy's shoulder. He was looking at Nia with a grateful expression on his face and she sent him a half-smile. It wasn't her place to tell Alex, Kara and J'onn that he'd been working with Lex Luthor. Nia knew none of them, especially Kara, would take it well, and Brainy could make the decision on whether he wanted to tell them at all.

They could save that for a different day, though.

"We should let you get some rest," J'onn said, beginning to back out of the room. "We can talk through this encounter in more detail later."

Alex nodded her agreement and Kara got to her feet. Brainy sat back down on his gurney and settled against the pillows, and Nia stretched out comfortably across from him. "I feel kind of stupid," she said after a moment. "The two of us laying here in different beds four feet apart."

Brainy eyeballed the distance. "Four feet and two inches," he corrected. "You were close."

Nia rolled her eyes. "That sentence was less about correctly measuring the space between us and more about me hinting for you to invite me to cuddle with you in that bed."

"Oh," Brainy said, squinting at her. "Then... I invite you to cuddle with me in this bed."

Laughing, Nia nodded her approval and crossed to his gurney, slipping into the minimal space beside him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," Brainy said after they had laid in silence for awhile. "For not telling Kara and Alex about my dealings with Lex Luthor."

"Are _you_ going to tell them?" Nia asked sleepily, her eyes closed.

"Yes," Brainy said, his voice low. "They deserve to know how I betrayed them, and I deserve to deal with the ramifications of such a betrayal. As has been proved to us many times, lying does nothing but make things more difficult for all of us."

Nia nodded. "I'll be there with you," she said. "When you tell them. I've got your back, no matter what they say or think. Okay?"

"Thank you," Brainy repeated. "I do not deserve you."

"Of course you don't," Nia replied, but her tone was teasing. "I'm awesome."

She shifted a little, getting more comfortable, and Brainy settled his arm around her shoulders and his cheek on top of her head. "Now let's take a nap," Nia whispered. "And then we can go home."

Brainy nodded. "That," he said. "Is a wonderful idea."

**Author's Note: And that is a wrappppppp :D :D **

**Did y'all see the summary for episode 12? Brainy has to chose between Lex and Alex... UGH HE BETTER PICK ALEX AND BY RELATION NIA. I MEAN COME ON. IF HE DOESN'T I MAY STORM THE CW.**

**Granted... I've been threatening to do that for like 5 years and it still hasn't happened, so we'll see XD**


End file.
